Jeff Quinn '86 Introduced as U of Buffalo's New Head Football Coach

December 22, 2009

December 22, 2009, Greencastle, Ind. — Jeff Quinn, "first broke into coaching as a graduate assistant at DePauw in 1984," notes the Associated Press, and in recent days Quinn says he's "had very little sleep but a lot of support." Quinn, who earned a master's degree from DePauw University in 1986, was introduced today as the new head football coach at the University of Buffalo. He replaces Turner Gill, who left to take the head coaching job at Kansas on December 14.

"Quinn's mind wasn't far from some unfinished business back home in Cincinnati," writes AP's John Wawrow. "After all, as interim head coach of the No. 4 Bearcats (12-0), he's got a Sugar Bowl game against Tim Tebow and No. 5 Florida (12-1) to prepare for on Jan. 1.

"I'm just trying to figure out a way to score a touchdown and stop Tebow," Quinn joked after his first news conference in Buffalo.

Quinn, who was Cincinnati's offensive coordinator and line coach, became interim head coach after Brian Kelly left the program two weeks ago to take the reins at Notre Dame.

Quinn was named one of five finalists for the 2009 Broyles Award, which is given to the nation's top assistant coach. Unranked in preseason polls, Cincinnati's undefeated regular season catapulted the Bearcats to No. 3 in the BCS standings and earned them an invitation to the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the school's second consecutive BCS game.